Rail-joint.



.No. 897,177. PATEN TED AUG. 25, 1908. H. WALKER & 1?. WEIRS'.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLIOATIO'N FILED AUG. 10, 1907.

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HOMER WALKER AND FRANK WEIRS, OF BYESVILLE, OHIO.

RAIL-J" OIN T.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 25, 1908.

Application filed August 10, 1907. Serial N 0. 387,953.

To all whom it may concern:

.Be it known that we, HOMER WALKER and FRANK WEIRS, citizens of theUnited States of America, residing at Byesville, in the county ofGuernsey and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Rail-Joints, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to rail joints, and its object is to providesimple and effective means for securely connecting the meeting ends ofrailway rails without the employment of the usual bolts and nuts.

The invention consists in providing one end of a rail with a projectingtongue of novel form, adapted to fit a corresponding groove in theadjacent rail, and the construction of the improvement will be describedhereinafter, in connection with the accompanying drawing which forms apart of this specification.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the ends of tworails embodying the invention, Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same,one of the rails being broken away, and Fig. 3 is a transverse sectionof the rails connected and secured to a tie.

The reference numeral 1 designates a rail having its web portionextended to provide a tongue 2 of. wedge-shape in cross-section. Thetongue 2 is formed on opposite sides with vertical recesses 3, and fromthe upper edge of said tongue project integral dowel pins 4:. The otherrail 5 is formed with a groove 6 corresponding in length and crosssection to the tongue 2, and formed with vertical ribs 7 on its oppositewalls to fit the recesses 3 of the tongue. The rail 5 is provided withan enlarged end 5 formed with a recess 6. The rail 1 has one end formedwith an enlargement as at 1 said enlargement being cut away andconstituting a ledge 1 upon which is adapted to rest an offset 5 formedon the enlarged end of the rail 5.

The upper wall 8 of the groove is formed with sockets 9 to receive thedowel pins 4 of the tongue. A wire 10 is secured within a longitudinalgroove formed in the upper edge of the tongue 2 and is connected to awire 11 embedded in the rail 5, thus bonding the rails together. Thetongue snugly fits within the groove or recess 6 and is bracedvertically and longitudinally by the interlocking ribs 7 and recesses 3.The rails are spiked to the tie 12, and require no other fasteningdevices.

We would have'it understood that the invention includes all suchvariations and modifications in the details of construction as may fallwithin the terms and scope of the appended claims.

Having now described our invention what we claim as new, is

The combination with a railway rail provided with an integral tongueprojecting from one end thereof and constituting an eX- tension of theweb of the rail, said extension provided with a plurality of verticalgrooves, that end of the rail from which the tongue projects cut away toform a ledge, and a rail having an enlarged end provided with a recesswith the side walls thereof formed with vertically-extending ribsadapted to engage in said grooves, said recessed rail having one end cutaway to form an overhanging offset adapted to engage the ledge when saidribs are mounted in said grooves, said recessed rail further having thetop wall of the recess therein provided with sockets, andvertically-extending dowel pins carried by the top of said eX- tensionand adapted to engage in said sockets whereby in connection with saidgrooves and ribs the meeting ends of the rails are connected together.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in the presence of twowitnesses.

. HOMER WVALKER.

FRANK WEIRS. Witnesses:

ALVAH B. TEooD, ELZA D. TROTT.

